Please Dont Read! For a few people only
by hglb88
Summary: First of all, I suck with writing stories. If you dont know who I am, then better go and tend to your goats!


In Time (this is the first time I'm posting a story so please bear with me. Suggestions would be pretty much appreciated.  
I gotta warn you, though, I don't live in the U.S. so my geography isn't really good.)

BY H.G.B.

I am beautiful. I am smart. I am beautiful. I am smart.

"Jamie!!!" someone called from downstairs. "You better come down now or you'll be late for school!!!!!!"

Hello, I am Jamie Sanders. A 4th year HIghschool student. I am not beautiful and I am not smart. I am fat and I am lazy and I am trying to convince myself otherwise. Thus...

I am beautiful. I am smart. I am beautiful. I am smart.

"JAMIE!!!!!"

"Alright! Allright!" I called out. "Sheesh...someone needs a breather."

"JAMIE!!!!!!"

"coming!!!!!"

OKay, before any of you get the idea of telling me to shove it and just kill myself for being useless, let me tell you that I am not entirely all of what I mentioned earlier. I am fat...that's a fact but I am not entirely...not smart. In fact, I'm an honor student even without studying and I am quite a debater. The thing is, I'm not smart enough to do the right things in my life. I'm always messing around, not thinking of the consequences it brings about in my life. Anyways, were on my way to school right now and my mom is totally biting my head off.

As we get to shool, I see my friends waiting for me by the school gates. I wave over to them and before I get out of the car, my mom stops me and tells me to remember what she just told me. I nod not wanting to make my agony go on for a little longer.

When finally my mom sped off to her work, I walked alongside my friends to our class.

"Hey guys!" I greeted.

"hey Jamie!" Alina, one of my bestfriends greeted back.

"So, did you finish the assignment?" asked Kaitlyn, another friend of mine.

"Yes, I did. But I'm not entirely sure if what I did was right." I explained.

" Why don't we ask..." Mary Anne, another one of my friends, started.

" Don't even think about asking him for help, Mary Anne. I know where you're going..." Jamie warned, while the others laughed.

" Hey, I was just saying..." Mary Anne said with a grin on her face.

"Yeah? Well...don't." Jamie finished.

Okay, you amy be wondering what were talking about. Well, It's about this guy I've had a crush on for a good four years. Pathetic. Yes, I know it is but it's a fact. Now here I am a mess. And it's all because of a boy who sees me only as a classmate...maybe a sort of friend, too.

As we got to our classroom, I was greeted good morning by practically everyone inside...except for a few people I could and could not do without. Who are they? Well, there's the teacher, who, in normal situations, is the one I have to greet. There's also this clique that my group of friends don't exactly mingle with and the boy. His friends are good friends of mine. No doubt. But him...questionnable.

"Good Morning, Jamie." greeted Kevin.  
"HI Kev. I see you've a nice morning..." I say as I get to my seat, which by the way is beside questionnable friendship guy.  
"Yes. I did have a nice morning." Kevin smiled.  
" And the reason behind this wonderful aura is..." I ask as I take a seat and take my seatmate's paper to see if the answers to my assignment were correct,  
despite my efforts of telling Mary anne to shove it. "Yes..." I mumble as I see my answers were indeed correct.  
"Well, you see...I got a call this morning..."Kevin continued and seat at the other side of Oliver (ever loving crush' name.  
"From whom, may I ask?" I continue to look into his other answers. "Hey, I thought we were only suppose to do page 169? Why'd you answer up to page 170?" I ask him. Kevin cleared his throat.  
"Ooopsss...sorry Kev...you were saying?" I said as I realize that I wasn't paying Kevin attention any attention.  
"Wait." Kevin said. He looked into Oliver's paper and checked it out. "Hey, were suppose to answer up to 170. Did you forget?" Kevin told me.

Oliver looked at me with a grin. "Please tell me you answered at least 5 out those 40 questions"  
I closed my eyes and dropped my head in my hands. "I hate school." I mumble. Then, I hear someone chuckle. I look to see that it was Oliver who was holding a piece of paper in his hand.  
"Don't worry." he chuckled. " I have my beautifully written scratch paper that has all the answers that can also be passed with me"  
He waved it infront of me. I want to have it, so I made a grab for it, but he was too fast.  
"Not so fast, missy." He said with a smile. Hah! If only I could wipe that beautiful smile off his face...but I won't.  
"What?!?!Why?!?!" I panick as time was ticking by.  
"You need to do something for me first"  
"What is it?" I ask.  
"You have to help me with my essay..." Oliver said.  
"What essay?...Wait is it an essay or another essay long love letter?" I ask making a face. He's always needed my help with these things. Damn him!  
"Very Funny!!! Or did you not want this?" he threatened to tear apart my future.  
"OKAY! YOU WIN! GIVE ME THE PAPER!" I grabbed the paper from his hand and saw that it wasn't actually just a beautifully written scratch paper but a well-  
prepared assignment with my name on top!!!

I turn to look at him and I see him smile sideways. "You promised. Later. After Class. Thanks." he reminded me and he walked off to his friends.  
Then, someone snatched the paper from me. Kevin.

"Hmmm...this seems to be a beautiful and CLEAN paper for it to be just scratch...ooohhh and with a name on it...ahhh, the things a man will do for love"  
Kevin teased. "So, you have anything in mind on what to write on his essay long love letter yet? Make sure it's of his league this time"  
I hit Kevin on the head as he laughs his butt off at me.  
"Very funny, Kev...now, back to the convo, please." I said, changing the topic because what Kevin said was the truth. He would do anything for the girl he likes. Even make assignments for the letter maker.  
"Well...I got a call this morning.." Kevin started "Look Kev, the morning call's already been established...what I want to know is who called you and why..." I tell him.  
"Okay. Who...UCLA" My eyes start to bulge as I hear the familiar name. "And why...I think you know"  
"You must be kidding!!!!" I yell in excitement.  
"NO! IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE!!!!" he yelled back.

oKaY! We were both talking about Kevin's scholarship that no one else knew he took, except for me! Oh, how wonderful!  
Back to where we stopped.  
We were both yelling in excitement. I couldn't believe it. He really got in!!!!

"What else did they tell you? Did they tell you about part-time work?" I asked "NO." Kevin answered. I stopped my jumping and looked at him.  
" Are you serious?" I asked him.  
Kevin nodded.  
I slump myself onto my seat.  
"I asked them if they could possibly help me out, they said they'd call back." Kevin edxplained.  
"Oh." was all I managed to say when our teacher arrived.  
"I'll talk to you later, Kev." I called out.  
"Okay." he answered.

Oliver sat nex to me as the class started.  
"Okay class. Hand in your assignments." called the teacher.  
Oliver smiled as he took the paper from my hand and passed it upfront.  
"Okay...Ms. Sonders..." the teacher called me out. I looked up at her knowing full well that she was about to ask me how I came up with my answers. "Can you please demonstrate how you were able to come up with this answer?" she asked.  
Oliver, who also knew of this great flow of education, was kind enough to pass me a tiny piece of paper that had the step-by-step formulation of the answers.  
And so, I was able to answer the questions without a glitch. All because of the guy I liked who needed help with a love letter he was about to give to someone else.

After our first class, I immediately thanked him and walked over to where my friends were. "Hey guys." I greeted them with a pathetic face.  
"Uhummm...let me guess...an essay long love letter?" Alina giggled "yeah..yeah..laugh all you want." I tell them.  
"Look...all you have to do is tell him that you don't wanna make those letters anymore.." Kaitlyn told me.  
:Ha! As if that's easy!" I retort. "Besides, instead of telling me that, why don't you tell yourself that and give yourse;f a pat on the back"  
They all giggled except for Kaitlyn, who just scowled at me.

It's been a long time now that we've been telling Kaitlyn to leave George behind, especially since when they started going out, he's been a bit too dependent on Kaitlyn. For example, he most of the time asks for Kailtyn to help him with his assignments. It wouldn't have been a bad thing if only George took part in making the assignment somehow. The thing was, he never was part of any fairly graded assignment he's passed.

"okAY...lay-off...I was just saying..." Kaitlyn raised her hands up in surrender.  
"That'll show you not to meddle with other people's affairs." Carrie, another one of my close friends, reminded Kaitlyn. "So...what are you going to write about?" she teased.  
I threw a crumpled paper at her while she, together with my other friends, laughed their asses off at me. I give them a scowl as their laughter only grew louder.

Yes. This is what they always do to me. I have the most hopeless case of love in our group. All of them are either in love or in trouble with love. Me?  
I am nowhere near it. And it's good. It's not that I get distracted easily..hey, I don't study! Rather it's because I don't think anyone will ever like me, genuinely. Talk about pessimistic!Oh well, where were we again?

Ah, yes...they were laughing. AT ME! So, what I did was walk over to the far corner to read.(Did I mention that I had the Loner's Syndrome..I usually get into that mode when I'm humiliated or bored. In this case, I would go for humiliated.)

Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I look up to see that it was Kevin.

"Hey." he said.  
"Hey Kev." I answered.  
"So, what are we reading again?" Kevin asked.  
"I'm reading..HOW TO KILL YOUR FRIENDS WHEN THEY LAUGH AT YOU..." i CALLED OUT TO MY GROUP OF FRIENDS. They looked at me, then burst out laughing again.  
I shake my head. It's hopeless to make them realize that I feel humiliated.  
"Why don't you tell them, then?" Kevin suddenly asked.  
"Tell them what, exactly?" I raise my eyebrow at him.  
"YOU just said that you wanted them to realize that you're getting humiliAted with what they're doing?!" Kevin answered.  
"What the-?!?!" I told him. " I said that out loud"  
"Yes you did." Kevin chuckled.  
"Damnit. Big mouth." I mumble.  
"You know Oprah has a big mouth too but America loves her...maybe you should make a living out of it, too." He joked.  
"Hahaha very funny Kev." I scowl at him."I almost peed my skirt"  
Kevin stood up and made a face. "Liar. You did pee your skirt"  
"Get the hell away from me, Kev or I swear I'll kill you." I threatened him and he baCked away over to where my other friends were, still laughing.

"He's right, you know." somwone suddenly told me. I looked around to see Oliver. He sat down next to me.  
"Yeah, well...what do you know?" I ask him sarcastically.  
"I know that you feel something very unpleasant right know." he said.  
"I am not constipated." I answered him with my lame sense of humor. Surprisingly though, he laughed.  
"That's a good one." he said, laughing.  
"I know. I mean, I seem to be maing a lot of people laugh today." Again, with the sarcasm. He stopped laughing. "What's the problem?" he asked. "You can tell me"  
I snort."You have got to be kidding me, right"  
"No." he answered seriously. "I may not be a girl but I can try and understand"  
"Okay...what if I told you that my problem's about 'the girl thing'?" I mocked him.  
"Okay, that you have to talk about with girls." he said while rubbing his ears, disgusted of the 'very girly' topic. "Seriously though...tell me."

He was looking at me intensely...I was about to tell him about my undying feelings when suddenly the bell rang.  
"English.."I say in a squeaky voice.  
"Yeah...english." he said.  
From then on, I vowed to never tell him about what I felt for him. Then, graduation came.

"Congratulations!!!!!!!" Everybody was greeting everyone. It was crazy out there that time. I wanted to personally thank Oliver that time because he helped a lot with my assignments and quizzes. He was especially helpful that time with a group project that I alone from the group did. Thank goodness my friends were there to help me. That final english project was a music video that we had to present before our english teacher. I thought me and my groupmates reached an understanding. It turns out the next day they asked to be transferred to other groups and I was left alone to fend for myself since the other groups had already started with their music videos. I swore that very moment that I was going to kill my groupmates if I wasn't able to graduate because of one measly music video. They should be thanking my friends because I passed with flying colors and forgot my plans of assassination. Hehehehe...kidding.  
Anyways, he was one of those who was kind enough to offer help, especially with editing. By the end of the day, I got the highest mark on the project and it was probably due to the fact that I was alone on this one.

Back to my search...I went over to where all my classmates gathered and saw all my friends happily congratulating the others. While I was pitching in my congratulations to the others, someone suddenly pulled me from behind and took me by the buffet table. Oliver.

"Please don't tell me you need my help in picking what to eat?" I asked him.  
"Nope." he said cheerfully.  
"Woah, someone's chirpy today!" I told him. "I mean I understand that your happy you've just graduated but...your chirpiness and giddiness is different from the others"  
"That's because there is something especially different about today." he said.  
"And that's..." I started.  
"Later." he finished. "Alina told me you were looking for me. Is there something you want to say other than congratulations"  
Okay, this is it. I thought. Should I or should I not?  
"Hello...earth to Jamie." he teased. He was waving his hand infront of me to get my attention.  
"Ha!Very Funny..." I told him.  
"Well? Wha tis it?" he asked.  
I hesitated. Then.  
"Oh come on, Sonders. What's taking so long?" he teased "Hey is it's about your undying love for me well then we'd better not talk about it. It's weird"  
I stared at him for a brief moment, looking at his laughing face as he teased me about what he assumed (and correctly, may I say) I was going to say.  
"It is, isn't it." he followed up.  
I put myself in pretend mode again, quickly, so he wouldn't notice. So, I hit the back of his head.  
"EEEEWWW!!! GROSS!!!" I said. "Me? Fall in love with you?! The gods must be crazy!" I laughed.  
"I KNOW." he said. Yep, my head was aching and it was just about to get worse.  
"So, what were you going to tell me?" I covered up.  
"Well, I wanted to tell you that Erica and I are officially together." he said cheerfully. Yes, I had a headache...supreme, extreme headache.  
"Really?!?!" I asked, leveling up to his excitement.  
"Yes! And you helped...BIG! So, I wanted to thank you." he said "I didn't do anything. The credit goes to your efforts." I told him. "That's great"  
"No. Seriously. Thank you." "Okay. Okay. Alright...now, my turn." I said. "Oh yeah. I forgot. So"  
"You have to give me a big, wonderful gift"  
"HUh? for what?" he asked, confused.  
"Didn't you tell me that if I got into the honor roll you'd give me something?" I told him "Really? I said that?" he jokingly asked.  
"I swear everytime I ask for my prize you always get amnesia." I joke around. He chuckled.  
"So, this was all you wanted to tell me?" he raised his eyebrow at me.  
I nod with a tight smile on my face. He seemed to have noticed that I wanted to tell him something important but refused to pry. "Okay. You'll get it. What do you want"  
I slowly shook my head. I didn't want anything from him. I just wanted to cover up the big humiliation I was about to get into. "Nothing. I just wanted to see if you really meant what you said about giving me a gift. Test of Honesty, you know"  
He laughed. "You're crazy"  
"Yeah, I know." I said faking a laugh.  
"Yeah, well I gotta go. She's waiting for me." he said waving off.

"Well, that was quite a show." a familiar voice told me from behind.  
"How long have you been there?" I asked "Long enough." I turn to see that I was right. It was Kaitlyn. "You okay"  
I nod. "Liar." Another voice said. I smile as I see that it was Alina.  
"Yes. And I am a damn good liar!" I said with a laugh. "I'm fine. really"  
They both nod. They knew not to pry. Honestly though, I really was fine. It was depressing, yeah. But I felt fine. And so, I put my arms around each of them.  
"So, where's the after-party?" I ask. They both laugh and they knew that I really was fine.

5 years after...

It's been five years now since graduation. I am now in New York City. I studied at a university in New York and left everyone I know back home in California. I graduated a year early through a scholarship in Adelphi Uni. I finished Business Management and am now employed as Manager for Pepsi, New York. They took me in right after I graduated.I have been with the company for more than a year now and am in line for another promotion as General Manager. I live alone in a 3 bedroom apartment that I got for a cheap price. Its actually very comfortable to live in and very convenient, too. Whenever my family comes over to visit, we all share the bedrooms, 2 per room. And the best thing about my apartment is that it has a veranda that opens to a view of Central Park. Totally breathtaking!

For the past five years, friends and old classmates of mine, have been trying to get in touch with me, askiing whether or not I could come over to some gathering they've just prepared for the entire batch. I could have come to any of those occassions but chose not to. Why? I, myself, don't know the answer.  
All I know is that I'm not in the mood to see any of them. At least not yet.

In the past five years, a lot of improvements have happened to me. First, Ive been more social...meaning, Ive been going out more to meet other people.  
new acquiantances and friends. Second, Ive sorted out...a little...my insecurities and decided to turn these so-called weaknesses into strengths. And lastly, I now have a full-time job that pays wonderfully. Actually, ever since I came to New York for school, Ive been working my ass off with part-time jobs that Ive saved upto 20,000 in 2 and 1/2 years. Add in the extra allowances my parents always sent me. I was rich at the age of 19.See what I meant with I could have gone to any of my old friends' occassions? My job,then? A daycare tutor. After school, I went to Tumbletot's Daycare Center and taught little children abc's and rhymes. Basically, I was sort of a kindergarten teacher. I also did library work at school that also paid good for a student like me. Other than that, I also earned money by helping out my friend in a videoshop owned by her grandma, every weekends. I always kept myself busy...busy enough to tell them I couldn't make it to any gathering, not seeing any of my old friends. But I actually made a lot of friends in New York, and most of them are still my colleagues at work.

So, see...I'm a different person now. Different than before in only some aspects of my life. Let me tell you though that I always go back home during the holidays and long vacations without letting any of my old friends know.

What's it like to live in my life? Unusual.

Anyways, let me get on with the story. One day, a call came. It was for me.

"Jamie!!!" my helper Maria called.She's actually a good friend, too.  
"Yeah?!" I called form my room.  
"There's a phone call for you!" she shouted from the living room.  
"Who is it"  
"Uhmm...she won't tell...' she hurried over to the kitchen where she left the casserole burning up.  
"is that the casserole burning?" I asked as I walked over to where she was. I laughed as I heard her say "AY! CARAMBA!' from the kitchen.

"Hello?" I asked "This is Jamie. Who is this please"  
"Hey Jamie!" the voice answered. it sounded familiar.  
"may I know who's on the line?' I asked, curious as to who would call me on a weekend morning.  
"It's Kaitlyn!" the voice answered excitedly.  
"Kaitlyn?!?!" "Yes! It's me"  
"Oh my goodness!!!! How are you"  
"Oh Im great...and so are all the other people here with me wondering why you don't come to important occassions"  
"Ive been sort of busy"  
"Uhumm...you nevere even told us you went home for the holidays?!?!?! How cruel is that"  
"Im sorry. I stayed only for a few days, you know"  
"yeah, your mom explained on your behalf"  
"So"  
"So..I called to say that we are all in New York to celebrate an important event in someone's life"  
"And that's"  
"Oh didn't Jo tell you?" she asked me.  
"Tell me what?" I asked back, curious.  
"Oh, she organized this event for her departure"  
"Where to"  
"She's moving to Singapore for work..."Kaitlyn explained.  
"Oh...so, you're all here?" I gulped.  
"Yes. Actually we are outside, right now"  
"Outside?" I was confused. Where were they?  
"Look outside!" Kaitlyn said excitedly.  
I hurried over to the window, looked out and indeed, there they were, in their coats, my highschool classmates. Every...single...one...of...them.  
I groaned. This is going to be a long weekend.  
"I'll be down in a sec, okay?" I told Kaitlyn.  
"Okay!!!" she told me excitedly and put down the phone.

"Maria?" I called as I went into the kitchen.  
"Yes, Jamie?" she answered "Call for pizza please." I told her "Pizza? How may boxes"  
"make that 5 boxes..." I told her "Isn't that too much for the both us?" I look at her incredulously. "No. I have guests coming over...please"  
She nods and makes her way over to the phone as I walked over by the door. I grabbed my coat and went to the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, I kept telling myself to act cool and busy. Yeah, cool and busy...cool and busy. Then, as the elevator doors opened and revealed my bestfriends outside the complex door being held by the guard, I totally forgot my sel-speech and ran towards them.

"ALINA! KAITLYN! MARY ANNE! CARRIE!" I ran over to them as the people I just called squealed and gave me a tight hug. "Damn, I missed you guys"  
Then suddenly someone slapped my back hard. "Ow! Who the he-" I was surprised to see Kevin, in all his glory, smiling down at me. "Oh my god!! Kev, you're so tall!!!!" I screamed, making all the other people walking by laugh at me.  
"Thanks for practically telling all the people how short I was before!' he joked as he gave me big hug. "I missed you"  
"Uhmm...I missed you, too!!!" I said, squealing like a pig while the others laughed. And so, I gave all my other former classmates a hug, except for those I wasn't that much close to and still despise. They were pretty much showing off signs that they didn't want to be at my place.  
"Hi guys!" I greeted Andy, the sort-of-leader of the clique I hated the most back then.  
"Hi. So, what floor are you?" she asked with a fake smile. Yup, I still officially hate her. Then, Alina nudged me. Apparently, my fakeness was showing.  
"Oh...I'm on the 18th floor. Come on in." I said, hospitality just spewing off of me. If my mother hadn't taught me better, I would've kicked her ass out.  
"Let's go." Kaitlyn squealed. And so, they all came in. But, as they entered the building, I noticed that they weren't entirely complete.  
"Where are the others?" i asked, curious as to where the others were.  
"Oh, George is out with his girlfriend." Kaitlyn said. I looked at her, surprised.  
"We have a lot to tell you..." Alina told me as she noticed my reaction. Then, she whispered. "See, you've missed out on a lot of things"  
I smiled. "That's why I have you guys. So you could tell me everything Ive missed out on." We laughed as we got into the elevator up to the 18th floor.  
"How many are with you?" i asked Alina as me and 4 other bestfriends rode the last trip of the eevator up to my floor. "20, I think." Mary Anne answered. " And, if you're wondering where Oliver is...he said he had to squeeze in a little work"  
"I wasn't asking...bu thanks anyway Mary Anne." i told Mary Anne and nudged her hard at the same time. They all laughed.

"Here we are." I announced to my friends. As the elevator doors opened, I saw my other old classmates waiting for us.  
"So, which one?" asked Lory, a good friend of Andy's.  
"This way..." i said through gritted teeth. Suddenly, someone came out of his apartment and greeted me. "Hey Jams!" he smiled. "Hi Mac! Where are you off to now?" I told my 6ft., blonde neighbor.  
"Im off too meet my mom. She just came in from D.C." he smiled his gorgeous smile.  
"Really?! Call me when you guys get here...I want to see her...love that woman..." I said.  
"Yeah, I know..she loves you more than she does me. She's actually more excited to see you"  
"Oh, byu the way...they are my highschool friends...guys, this is my neighbor Andrew Macintosh. He's an agent for Warner Bros." I bragged.  
"Yep...and I see a lot of potential in your friends." The others, flattered with his statement, smiled full-on for him. "By the way, it was nice meeting all of you. Im sorry but I really have to run"  
"It's okay." Carrie said. And Mac looked at her with a wide smile. "I'll see you again next time." he said, not exactly looking elsewhere but at Carrie. I smiled. These two are definitely flirting, I thought.  
"Yeah...bye, Mac. Your mom's waiting." I said with a stifled laugh.  
"Oh shit. yeah...uhmmm...gotta go...bye." he said, running over to the elevator.

"This way, guys." i said as I led them to the door next to Mac's which happened to be the last unit. As I opened the door, I saw Maria setting the table with the casserole she, fortunately, didn't burn.  
'Come on in." I told them. "Guys, this is Maria. And this is where I live"  
"This is wonderful!!!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.  
"Oh-oh..." Kevin started "Who's sleeping in"  
Mary Anne, Carrie, Kaitlyn, Alina, Brenda, Heidi, Lory and Kevin all exclaimed at the same time. "I AM!!!" I laughed as I saw Kevin and Mary Anne bicker about Kevin not staying ina girl's place. Then, I saw Andy nudge Brenda to warn her.  
"UHmmm...Brenda, Heidi and Lory are staying with me and Jo at the hotel." Andy explained.  
"Oh...really?" I said pretending to look as though I regret not having them over. "That's a shame"  
"So, where's my room?" kevin asked.  
"You are not staying for the night, Kev." I decided. "It will be a girl's night tonight"  
Kevin pouted and mumbled. "I hate girls..." and we all laughed at him.

Throughout the day, they all talked to me about things Ive missed and haven't heard. It was actually the first time Ive ever bonded with Andy and her group.  
I was a bit surprised actually when I saw that my friends were actually pretty close with them. And so, realizing that there isn't any problem between them,  
I tried to mend bridges as well. I left the others talking in the living room and went out to look at the night sky. Andy came outside as well.

"Hey." I said.  
"Hey.Uhmmm...look...about earlier..." Andy started.  
"It's nothing...let's just forget about it, 'kay"  
She smiled and took a sip from her cup. "So, what do you do?" she asked "Well, I am manager of Pepsi, New York. You"  
"Really? That's wonderful. Well, I manage Les Artes back home"  
"Really?!?! As in the art gallery...damn, I always wanted to go there"  
"Then go. Hey, take a day off from work. You know we haven't heard from you since graduation. You should come to at least one party." she explained.  
"yeah...I just realized Ive missed out on a lot"  
"How about you come to this party at Les Artes." she smiled. "There's an exhibit of Tom Wessellman works, you should come." I looked at her and saw the sincerity of starting anew. " I would love to"  
"It's settled then. Im sending you an invitation." she smiled. "I'll be expecting that!" I smiled as I took a sip from my cup.  
"This is beautiful." She said.  
"I know. Its been a habit of mine to always look out during this time of the day...its relaxing." I said "True. But tonight will be an exception. You have to listen to all that we have to tell you." she smiled.  
"Okay." And so, we both went in to join the others.

Throughout the night, I learned a lot of things about my old friends.  
-Kailtyn is working as an English instructor at UCLA. She still lives with her grandparents in California and usually helps Alina out with her work.  
-Alina is an interior designer who's famous among the rich and famous in Cali. She and Andy, who were known to be mortal enemies back in Higschool, worked things out and goes out with Kaitlyn for little chats most of the time.  
-Carrie is a fashion designer, designing fun clothing that is now being distributed in New York, Washington and other states. And, as you can remember she may already have a love interest in the storoy that I'm narrating.  
-Mary Anne is a software designer working for Acer-L.A. branch. She was promoted as head of their department and is being sent to foreign countries to gather several, different ideas for their software project.  
-Kevin is a nurse working for St. Mary Grace's Hospital in Boston. He lives with his girlfriend of two years back in Boston.  
-Lory works for an advertising agency in California. -Brenda is a flight attendant for United Airlines.  
-Wendy, another friend of Andy's, is now working for Kline pharmaceuticals. She spearheads the accounting department of the company.  
-George works as a football coach in a highschool back home while also looking after the sports shop he and his sister put up.  
-David, a good friend of Oliver's, has his own music shop and sells a lot musical instruments.  
-another good friend of Oliver's, James, is in basketball. He's going professional.  
-Jo, the one leaving for Singapore, is working overseas as manager of The Hyatt Hotel. She grabbed the opportunity to travel and work outside of California,  
as this was her dream from the very beginning.  
-Erika, the girl who Oliver told me then was her girlfriend, is working as a feature columnist of OK! Magazine in Los Angeles.  
-And finally, Oliver, works as CEO of an import-export company that his family owned. And the other things about him, I didn't want to know. Fortunately for me, Jo called Andy's phone at that moment in time. Phew. Was I relieved!

"Hello?" Andy answered her phone. "Oh, hey Jo!...What?...Oh, okay...be there in five"  
"Jo?!" KAITLYN asked.  
"Yup. She said we should head off to Madison Square..."Andy explained.  
"Whoa! Really?!?!" I said.  
"Is it nice there?" Alina asked.  
"Yeah!...Wait, just let me go get changed."I said.  
"Okay."mary Anne answered.

After 10 minutes of frantically looking for the perfect outfit, I went out to see my old classmates staring at me.  
"Do I look Okay?" I asked.  
"Honey, you made me fall off of my seat." Kevin answered.  
"Is that a good thing?" I asked with a laugh.  
They all laughed and nodded their yes. As I went back in to go get my keys, someone rang the doorbell.

"Jamie, Julian's here!" Maria announced. I quickly ran off to meet Julian and saw that ny friends were now hudled around him, apparently interrogating him.

"Hey Juls!" I called from my door.  
"Hey...you didn't tell me you had friends coming over, I could've brought something." he smiled as he excused himself from my friends and walked over to where I was. "I'm sorry. It was actually a surprise.." I explained.  
"Nah, It's okay."he smiled that gorgeous smile again.

STOP. You're probably wondering who the hell Julian is. Well, Julian is a 6ft chinese-american guy, who was pegged as one of the eligible bachelors of Manhattan. He is the proprietor of a shipping line that handles cargo and cruise ships. I met him when I was in HongKong 2 years ago for a seminar. He 'accidentally' barged into my hotel room when his friends made him drink something he didn't know could knock the daylights out of him. So, I asked for help from teh front desk and had him transferred back to his room which was actually next door. I lefthim a note telling him to actually get his friends memorize his room number first before gettting drunk. ( I know, I was mean!!!) The next day, I found a bunch of flowers delivered right at my doorstep with an apologetic note and the next thing I knew, he asked me out for dinner. After dinner, we said our goodbyes went our separate ways. Funny thing was, back here in New York, when my boss asked me to meet some of the investors of Pepsi-New York, I was surprised to see that he was actually one of them. After the meeting, he didn't stop bugging...and the rest was...HISTORY. Now, he is my boyfriend and weve been together for one good year and 2 months.

Let's continue then...

My friends were all surprised, the very least, to know that I already had a boyfriend.  
"Guys, this is Julian." I introduced him to them.  
"HI.Im Alina." Alina shook hands with Julian and the others followed suit.  
After the introductions, Julian asked where I was headed.  
"Actually were going to Madison Square. An old friend of mine is throwing a party. She's leaving for Singapore next week and just wanted to have fun." I explained.  
"Oh, is that so?" he said. "Well then, maybe I'll see you tomorrow"  
"You can come with us, if you want." Kaitlyn butted in.  
"Yeah...why don't you come with us?" Alina seconded.  
"Uhmmm...I don't know..." he answered hesitantly, looking at me.  
"Wanna come?" I asked, amused at his expression when he nodded. "Come on then"  
"Okay. But will it be alright? Won't I be interrupting?" he asked.  
Then, Mary Anne and Carrie both took him the hand and whisked him away to the elevator saying "Trust us...you won't be"  
I laughed as I heard him laughing at my friends. Then, Alina and KAitly both whispered to me. "Good catch..."

As the elevator doors opened, I saw Julian having a nice chat with Carrie and MAry Anne. They were waiting by the car.  
"Im driving." Julian announced, as he saw me, Alina and Kailtyn approach.  
"Nuh-uh..." I said. "We won't fit. We'll need two cars." He looked over and realized that I was right.  
"Okay. 'll be driving right behind you." He said. I nodded my yes and continued to my car.

It was a 20 minute drive to Madison Square as the traffic got in the way. When we arrived, we went to the rooftop where the restaurant was and saw that almost everybody was already there.  
"Whao. I didn't know you had a lot of friends..." Julian teased as he didn't know as single soul there. I smiled at him and playfully pinched him.  
"I have got tons of friends, buddy." I told him.  
"I know...that's why it's hard keeping track!" he chuckled.

"Jamie!?!?!" It was Jo. She came over to us and kissed me on both sides of the cheek. "Long time, no see"  
"Yeah, I know. Im sorry I heven't been to any of the gatherings...Ive been quite busy with work." I explained as people started to swarm up to us.  
"Nah, don't think about it...I'm happy you could come..." then, she looked over at Julian. " And you are"  
"Julian...Julian Connors." Julian shook hands with Jo.  
"Oh, Im sorry...forgot my manners somewhere..." I joked and they all laughed.  
"You are still the same old Jamie...anyways, come and eat..." Jo said.

Me and Julian sat beside Alina. There was an empty chair in between so, I moved over so I could chit-chat with her. Suddenly,someone tapped my back. I turned to see that it was Oliver.  
"Hey you!" he said with a wide smile.  
"Hey Oliver!" I stood up to give hima tight hug." How've you been"  
"Wonderful!" he answered. " But I think youre in my seat..." "Oooppsss...sorry, I thought it was empty." I said.  
"Don't worry 'bout it." he said. Then.  
"Oliver?" Julian asked. "Oliver Johnson"  
Oliver looked over to my side to see who called him. "Damnit! Julian! What are you doing here"  
Julian stood up and gave Oliver a brotherly hug. Alina looked at me with an amused expression.  
"How are you man?" Julian asked Oliver.  
"Im good. Im good. How about you? What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.  
"Oh, Im with my girlfriend." And Julian looked over to me. Oliver followed suit.  
"Jamie?!?!?! Jamie's your girlfriend?!?!" Oliver asked surprised.  
"Yes, she is." Julian affirmed. I looked up to smile at him then at Oliver.  
"You two know each other?" I asked.  
"Yeah..." Oliver started.  
"Jams, he's one of the classmates I was with when we met in Hongkong." Julian explained. "If Id known you two knew each other, I would have asked Oliver here for some help with you"  
"hahaha..." I laughed sarcastically but still with a smile.  
"So, she's the one who sent you the note, huh." Oliver told Julian pulling a chair and sat behind us.  
"What note?" Alina butted in.  
"Oh, it was nothing." I said.  
"It wasn't nothing!" Oliver exclaimed. "See, Julian here got drunk after one shot of god-knows-what back at Hongkong"  
"...actually we both were..." Julian laughed.  
"Hey, come on. You know how we both don't have vices, right?!' Oliver asked, looking at me. So, I nodded, smiling.  
"Well, because we wouldn't drink, a classmate of ours handed us a drink that we didn't know could knock the daylights out of us...so, they sent us to our hotel rooms. Julian here, got into the wrong room so, Jamie here wrote hima note telling him to have his friends memorize his room number first before we get drunk." Oliver told everybody. They all laughed at the story and I was red all-over in embarrasment 


End file.
